FRANKLIN H. WILLIAMS

DIARY

FROM 1852 TO 1891

"Commencing Sept. 1st 1852

Commenced it in my eighteenth year, designing
to note interesting events as they accurd.
Also to be particular in regard to dates,
and to notie the states of the weather.
And in fact all which may be interesting
to rehearse in the future."

AND

CERTAIN PERTINENT ADDENDA

Published by
The Williams Family
Sunderland, Massachusetts
1975
(c) Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association, Deerfield MA. All rights reserved.
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On May 16, 1874, in the hills of western Massachusetts, the Williamsburg reservoir dam broke, devastating a narrow valley lined with factories and farms and leaving 139 dead. At the time, it was the most deadly dam failure on record in the United States. Franklin H. Williams, of Sunderland, Massachusetts, recorded the event as well as his contribution of $5.00 to aid the victims in his diary.

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